After two hard-hitting posts (Part I and Part II) on transparency surrounding public money in COVID-19 vaccines, Prashant Reddy wraps up this three part saga with a curious incident. Here, he writes on the DHC’s move to invite Bharath Biotech’s executive as a guest to its official event marking World IP Day, 2023. In this
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[Part II] Public Money, Private Patents? Unravelling India’s Opacity over its COVID Vaccines
Continuing the discussion on opacity behind the public money invested in development of COVID-19 vaccines, Prashant Reddy T, in Part II of his post, recounts his struggle with the government, including his eventual litigation to access essential public documents related to government funding in the vaccines. Please Note: This part includes some sections from Part I
... Continue Reading.DHC Directs CIC to Disclose a Ph.D Thesis, Clarifies that it is Not Exempted under the RTI Act
Analysing the Delhi High Court’s decision in Rajeev Kumar v. Central Information Commission, SpicyIP intern Aishani Chatterjee discusses its key contribution vis-a-vis academic freedom. Aishani is a second year B.Sc. LL.B.(Hons.) student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), Kolkata. DHC Directs CIC to Disclose a Ph.D Thesis, Clarifies that it is
... Continue Reading.Analysing Dipak Ranjan Mukherjee vs. Ministry of Commerce & Industry in Context of Transparency, Privacy and the RTI Act
In an interesting development, the CIC recently rejected an RTI application concerning information on IPRS’ compliance with the Copyright Act, upholding privacy for private organizations and confidentiality of inquiry reports that have not been tabled in front of the Parliament. SpicyIP intern Kartikeya Srivastava analyses this decision from the lens of underlying public interest in
... Continue Reading.Lessons on the RTI Act: Of Missing Records at the DCGI’s Office & Litigation Fatigue at the Delhi High Court
Penning his 6 years long campaign to trace important public documents admittedly lost by the government, Prashant highlights the lack of transparency and shoddy record keeping by CDSCO and shares his exhausting experience with the resultant litigation before the DHC. Prashant Reddy T is an advocate and one of our most prolific bloggers (His posts
... Continue Reading.NCPRI Raises Alarms Regarding Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, Labeling it as ‘Backward Revisions’ to the RTI Act
On August 3, the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) brought to the forefront significant apprehensions concerning the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, which has been introduced in the Lok Sabha. The NCPRI underscored that the government has yet to effectively address crucial concerns that were previously highlighted by the organization. Through
... Continue Reading.Indian government denies access to Covid 19 vaccine collaboration agreements
The Indian government has refused to disclose its collaboration agreements and investments made in developing and procuring India’s Covid 19 vaccine – Covaxin, the Indian mRNA and intranasal vaccine candidates. Despite widespread public interest in these arrangements, the government has consistently rejected Right to Information (RTI) applications requesting this information. Prashant Reddy (who needs no
... Continue Reading.“Right to Access a Public Record” vs “Right to not Communicate the Work”: Where is Public Interest?”
We’re pleased to bring you a guest post by Lokesh Vyas, on an RTI matter that brought up some interesting copyright related questions. Lokesh is a graduate from Nirma University and has previously written posts for us here and here. “Right to Access a Public Record” vs “Right to not Communicate the Work”: Where is
... Continue Reading.RTI Act Has Armed Citizens With The Most Potent Tool
At the very inception , I would begin by stating that no nation can call itself truly democratic if they fail to arm their citizens with the most potent tool of “right to information” which has far reaching consequences . Going forward , I would even say that right to information must be accorded the
... Continue Reading.DCGI draws ire of Delhi High Court for violating the RTI Act
The Single Bench of the Delhi High Court headed by Justice Pratibha Singh, in its recent order in Prashant Reddy v DCGI, came down heavily on the drug regulator for egregious violation of the Right to Information Act. The case arose in relation to the report of Dr. T.M. Mohapatra Committee, a committee which was
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